


The Bar Fight

by joyfulsongbird



Category: Hadestown - Mitchell
Genre: F/M, Nothing graphic i swear, a little violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-08
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2021-01-25 14:44:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21357943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joyfulsongbird/pseuds/joyfulsongbird
Summary: based off of one of my HC’s, where Eurydice tries breaks up a bar fight gone array, and Orpheus steps in. I’m telling it from both Orpheus and Eurydice’s POV’s cause I don’t feel I can cover both sides of the action without switching to tell from both sides. So I tell it first in Eurydice’s perspective, and then Orpheus’. Just a heads up.
Relationships: Eurydice & Hermes (Hadestown), Eurydice/Orpheus (Hadestown), Hermes & Orpheus (Hadestown)
Kudos: 27





	1. Chapter 1

EURYDICE POV:

It’s not that Eurydice likes breaking up the bar fights, it’s that she’s good at it. She tries not to think about it, when she hangs out at Hermes’ bar, but it’s always buzzing in the back of her mind. She can sense the rowdiest men the moment they arrive, the fact that they’re already tipsy when they come through the door, stumbling over their own feet. It makes it easier when they throw the first punch, sometimes, when they fall on their asses before she really has to engage. And it isn’t even a real job, she nearly forcibly took it from Orpheus after watching his first attempt.

It reminds her too strongly of her years of being one of the fighters, of hands too close, and punches flying, and her body aching in the morning.

She’s never come out of a fight more bruised than the other guy.

“No, no, not like that.” Orpheus laughs, pulling the piece of paper from her hands. “You’re supposed to fold it this way, that way when you get to the next few steps-”

“I’ve done origami before!” she cracks up as she reaches across the bar to grab the paper back.

“have you?” he asks, holding it above his head where she can’t reach it.

“oh, not fa-”

she stumbles over her feet at a crashing, heart jumping up her throat. Orpheus drops their origami onto the floor in surprise, not bothering to pick as he watches what Eurydice can’t see over her shoulder. She whips around, eyes scanning the bar for the location of the sound before finding it over near the edge of the stage. A large man, his back facing her, holding another man down by his shoulders. It doesn’t surprise her, honestly, it was getting later in the night, when crowds got roudier and the drinks started to seep into people’s veins, really affecting their head for the first time. She sighs, just exasperated at her evening being interrupted by duty.

“I’ll be right back, stay where you are.” she says, patting Orpheus’ arm quickly before beginning her march from the bar to the small stage.

“Eury-” she catches a note in the tone of the way he begins her name, before she’s out of earshot: fear. Not just a note, not even a harmony, but a minor chord. She hears how unsettled he is in that moment, but he always is during bar fights, that’s why she takes them. She’s got the thicker skin, it doesn’t affect her emotionally afterwards. Orpheus isn’t exactly frail but he’s too kind, he goes easy. Eurydice doesn’t.

“HEY!” she shouts, making her voice known above the noises and inhabitants of the newly forming crowd. her small form shoves people aside, she knows no mercy for she wants the initiates of the fight to know she will do the same to them. But they pay no attention to her interruption, that larger man still holds tight to the one below. And it’s apparent to Eurydice in this new angle that the man being held down is in the “flight” of his “fight or flight” mode. He kicks, grapples at the mans arms pinning his chest down, and as Eurydice comes closer, the weakness of his voice reaches her ears. Out of breath and exhausted.

“Get off of him!” she just barely touches the larger man’s shoulder, preparing to force him in some way to relinquish the other from his hold, but before she can get a hold of him he whips around so fast she can just barely get a glimpse of veins protruding from his forehead and sweat trailing down his neck before a sharp, white hot pain in the side of her head, flames licking all the way from her ear to her jawline.

And then she’s down, reaching for anything to break her fall on, but finding open air instead. After that, all there really is, is my head hurts, a lot more than it did before.

Shouting, above her, a familiar voice. One that pulls her out of her reverie.

“Orpheus.”

Angry yelling, not from him, she can’t make out the words. Louder, louder, louder, until it’s scaring her how loud it is, until it makes her head throb even more.

“Orpheus.”

She peels her watering eyes open, needing to see, needing to know.

“Don’t touch her!” Orpheus’ soft voice, usually so timid rises to a level that could qualify as a shout. He’s trying to be as strong as he can, but the shake at the end of his last word gives it away: he’s scared. Scared for Eurydice, for himself, but he’s the man before him whose so much taller than him, in stature and size. From her angle, she can make out his face. Eyebrows furrowed down, lips pursed together, hands clenched at his sides.

“What did you say, little boy?”

“I said,” he grits his teeth, steeling himself. “don’t touch her.”

Eurydice pushes herself up on her elbows, or tries to. The world sways in front of her, the legs of the tables and chairs bending at an unnatural position.

Someone grabs her arm, a jolt of fear shoots up her body and she jerks away. That instinctual part of her that kept her out of bad situations when she was younger. The part of her that fought her way out of alleyways and made sure she had food enough to last her through the day, by any means. The distrusting side of her that fought, kicked, and screamed until she lost her voice or collapsed.

“Calm down, girl.” Hermes voice calms her, for she trusts this man, knows he’d never hurt her.

“Orpheus.” she says yet again.

“he’s handling it.” Hermes assures her. She shakes her head, which makes her head hurt more.

“No, no he’s not.” talking makes her jaw hurt, but she does anyways.

She can barely make out his expression from behind a blur of tears that bubble up from the pain. It’s conflicted, pained almost. She knows he wants to go assist his godson, but on the floor here he has his near daughter-in-law with a bloodied jaw and probably a mild concussion. The expression only lasts a few seconds before he leans down, taking one of her arms and putting it over his shoulder.

As he helps her stand up and sit down in a chair, she strains to look over his shoulder.

She can’t hear what they’re saying anymore. Either the crowd moved with the two of them or Eurydice somehow moved backwards. But she can see the look on both men’s faces. Despite being a tall man himself, Orpheus looks small in comparison to the opposer. His lanky build doesn’t quite match up with the bulk and muscle opposite of him.

“Go help him.” she pleads. “I don’t- I don’t want him hurt.”

“he’s handling it.” Hermes repeats, he tilts her chin up, she flinches at the movement. “are you dizzy? head hurts?”

“yes.”

“hm.”

A louder shout, she makes a worried sound deep in her throat. And then, a couple of long seconds later, as if by some miracle, the crowd parts. And in that pathway, the larger, bulkier man stalks away, all the way out the door of the bar.

Orpheus follows after a few seconds, but stops in front of her. His shoulders sag, almost by exhaustion, but he says nothing of it. Instead, he pulls another chair up, brushing hair out of her eyes.

“are you alright?”

she nods, “yeah, I’m good.”

Hermes makes a “tsk” sound. Orpheus whips around to face him. “is she okay?”

“she’ll live, but I wouldn’t exactly advise getting it any more fights for awhile. Or doing anything involving moderate movement for two weeks or so.” he says, calmly, like he’s reporting the news.

“I didn’t know you were a doctor, mister Hermes.” Orpheus says, in awe.

“I’m not.” he says. “I’ve just lived a long life.”

“But… two whole weeks?” Eurydice asks. He nods.

“two whole weeks.” he repeats.

“But- but I need to work, we’re going to have to harvest soon!” the pain in her jaw starts to turn into more of a numbness, her tongue feels like lead in her mouth.

“Orpheus, take your girl home.” he says, turning away from the couple. “I won’t deduct from your pay for the night, just make sure she gets cleaned up and stays in bed.”

“Got it.” Orpheus cups her cheek with one of his hands, brushing under her eye with his thumb.

“You did really good, Orpheus.” she chuckles. “I don’t think I’ve ever come out of a fight this messed up, and you stepped in all action-y.”

He ducks his head, but still smiling. “C’mon, let’s go, you can tell me how good I did on our way home.”

She uses his shoulder to stand, then sits back down. “Maybe you should…”

He slips an arm under her knees and she wraps her arms around his neck. Her stomach drops from the weightlessness as she rises into the air.

“You looked kinda handsome, you know.” she mumbles sleepily into his shoulder.

“Hey, hey, don’t go to sleep.” he nudges her shoulder gently. “Tell me more about how handsome I looked.”

“I could go on forever.”

“Then do.”

She smiles, it’s such an un-Orpheus thing to say that she finds it funny. And the smile develops into a deep, chest laugh. She laughs all the way home, even though it hurts.

ORPHEUS POV:

Orpheus never likes sending Eurydice straight into the minefield of drunk men and violence. She can handle herself, he knows that, but what kind of person is he if he’s just okay with throwing someone into the thick of battle? He’s watched her dodge punches before, even get hit sometimes, but never so badly that she couldn’t get back up.

He can make her out weaving between people in the crowd, a flash of black hair there, the swirl of a dark coat.

His fingers tap nervously against the countertop, he ignores the people waiting at the bar for drinks, and watches worriedly. He waits, and waits, for some sign that she’s split it up and is coming back to him, smiling and saying that it’s taken care of. But before he can even dare indulge in the hope that everything will turn out okay, the pit in his stomach deepens for half a second before the loudness of her voice cuts through the buzzing of voices.

A collective gasp ripples through the crowd, his feet are moving before he can even register what that means, for him, for Eurydice. He slides around the bar, chest tight, and face burning with something like a terrifying anger.

The man he faces is big, a lot bigger than he is. He can’t imagine how Eurydice must’ve felt, she doesn’t feel fear the same way he does but somehow he has to think that the contrasting smallness and largeness of two beings must’ve triggered some terror within her. He wants to turn his head towards the soft whimper he can hear a few feet away, but he knows he shouldn’t, that he can’t, for if he does, he’ll abandon his endeavors here and go to her.

“Don’t touch her.” he says, voice curt and his attempt at cold. But the tremor his fear leaves in his words gives away his true state.

“What did you say, little boy?” deep in this man’s eyes is an interior of chaos, Orpheus could observe every flash of anger and widening of pupils. Sweat drips from the edge of his chin, down his neck, staining his already yellowing white shirt. Veins popping out here and there, a man on the edge.

“I said,” he clenches and unclenches his fists, determined to sound unafraid. I am not afraid. I am not afraid. “Don’t touch her.”

“Brave man, aren’t you?” he takes a step closer, Orpheus forces himself not to lean away. “I bet you go down as easy as she does.”

“If you don’t,” he takes a deep gulp of air. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave the premises… if you don’t extract yourself from this… situation.”

“How ‘bout you extract yourself?!” his voice bites and growls, so loud that Orpheus almost flinches, but he doesn’t want to bite back, even if he’s being tempted. Even if the volume of the man makes his ears ring a little.

“I’m sorry, you- you can’t just go around and hitting- hurting- people like this. That’s not how we work here. And now, you’re one step closer to being kicked out.”

The man closes the distance between him and Orpheus, shoving the latter backwards. “And you’re one step closer to-”

Orpheus stops in his tracks, planting his feet firmly in place. He stumbles for a moment, before gaining his footing and pointing towards the door. “There’s the door. I’ll ask you nicely to leave.”

The man’s heavy breathing is right in Orpheus’ face, if it was colder, there would be a steady stream of steam coming out of his mouth. They stand there, for a moment, and Orpheus refuses to move. For once, he moves not his head nor his fingers. Nothing fidgets, he’s not even sure he’s breathing.

The man shoves the side of Orpheus’ head jerkily with the heel of his hand. “You’re an ass.”

And leaves.

He doesn’t breath a sigh of relief until the door is shut and he’s long gone.

Finally, he can go to Eurydice. And tell her what he did, just so she knows she’ll have help next time a fight arises.


	2. The Bar Fight Sequel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the sequel to the bar fic where Eurydice remembers her life before meeting Orpheus when she sees herself bloodied in the mirror.

Orpheus holds her gingery, like one holds a child, afraid to hurt something so fragile. She’s still giggling against his neck when they near the house, but she sobers more quickly now. Her silence is deafening against the hum of the night, the chirping of crickets, the soft brush of grass in the calm breeze. When he glances down at her head for a quick second, his eyes have to search for a moment to find her face, her hair has fallen to cover from the nose down, blending with the night. Her breathing is gentle, in and out with a never ending pattern, in and out with the simple up and down rhythm that reminds Orpheus that she’s right there. That somewhere near him, her heart beats in time with that breath. Maybe an off beat here and there but somewhere, someday it’ll beat in time together again and they’ll both feel it. Hearts beating as one. Breathing together at last.

“Eurydice,” Orpheus whispers as he unlocks the door. “c’mon, we’ve got to clean you up before going to bed.”

She makes a displeased noise in her throat. “I’m tired.”

“I know.” he murmurs. “just a little bit longer.”

he closes the door behind him, striding as evenly as he can to the bathroom, setting Eurydice gently to sit on the edge of their bathtub, before lighting a few candles to illuminate the room enough to see. In their impoverished town, there is no electricity like there is in Hadestown. When sun goes down, so do they. Or they read by the light of candles, or dance before fireplaces.

He leaves her alone for just a few moments that he takes to grab an extra pair of clothes for her, searching in her top drawer of the dresser that they share until he comes up with a t-shirt, one of his old ones, and cotton shorts for warmer days when the nights aren’t freezing. He isn’t sure if he should grab underclothes so he goes back to ask her.

When he gets back to bathroom though, that’s the last of his priorities.

She stands in front of the mirror, gripping the sides of the sink below it so hard that her knuckles turn white. She stares at herself with tears sliding down her cheeks. Slow, steady tears that have no sobs that go with them, that just fall and keep falling until they drip off the edge of her chin onto the surface below. She doesn’t often cry like this, or cry at all, and some section of his mind fills in that it must be because of the emotional high she’s running on and the fact that she hit her head on the long fall to the ground. Her emotions all jumbled up and adrenaline still running, but coursing out of her veins, leaving her trying to fill that space; this time with tears.

he drops the clothes onto the floor, rushing to tug her face away from the mirror, “hey, what’s- what’s wrong? what’s going on?”

she pushes away his hands, turning back to mirror. he holds his breath, awaiting her answer. she takes both of her hands, dragging the tips of her fingers around the shape of her face, over her cheeks, until they meet at the end of her chin.

“my mother used to say…” she licks her lips, and at that same moment, Orpheus’ heart drops in his chest. Eurydice doesn’t often talk about her life before they met, or a long time before they met. They talk about it, sometimes, but what they both agree on is that this new life that they have is one that doesn’t concern old habits or memories. It’s theirs for new memories, and new love. but he listens to when she talks about it, and he does now, though his heart beats loudly in between his ribs.

“my mother used to say that no one would love me when I kept coming home… looking like this. All beaten up and bloody. so I didn’t.” she gulps down her tears, creating room for more words. “I got into fights but I never came home like that again. But then… when my father got- got angry and… she didn’t know. And she said that she wouldn’t love me anymore if I kept coming home like that, and I couldn’t stop it, so I- so-”

Orpheus sits down on the floor, leaning against the bathtub, pulling her down to sit on his lap. He wraps his arms tightly around her, gripping her waist with one arm and continually running his hands through her hair, which always seems to soothe her. she lets one hiccup loose out of her, before she falls silent, allowing the tears to once again silently drip from her eyes to soak into Orpheus shirt. he doesn’t mind. he holds her closer, if anything.

“I love you.” he reminds her. she nods. “I’m sorry this whole thing reminded you of… that. I’m sorry I ever put you into a situation that reminded you of such a horrible thing.”

“not your fault.” she says adamantly. “not ever your fault, Orpheus. I volunteered, I knew what I was getting myself into and I chose to do it.”

“tell me, next time.” he says earnestly. “I always want to help you, no matter what it is. Always.”

“okay.” she whispers. she allows her head to tip forward and brush her forehead against the top of his head. he peppers gentle, feather light kisses across her shoulder. staring to hold her closer, when he starts to feel that she’s shivering, her body succumbing to whatever memory persists in her head. her head shifts to sit in the crook of his neck, her breathing shaky and slow.

“I’m tired.” she murmurs finally. “can’t we go to sleep?”

“soon.” he promises. “we just need to wash that scratch and get you changed and then you get to sleep for as long as you wish.”

she sits up, wiping away her tears swiftly, as if they were never there. Blinking against the new angle of light, she pulls herself to stand, closely followed by Orpheus. He holds her arm steady, as if he’s afraid she’ll crumple to the ground. Which really isn’t so far fetched. Eurydice sits down on the edge of the bathtub, steadying herself with both hands, watching Orpheus from below with careful eyes. Waiting for some reaction from him, a fear deep in his eyes, a disgust she’s so used to seeing. All she sees is caring. And love.

He wets the washcloth, with clean water that’ll keep infection away. When he begins to wipe away what is left of the dried blood on her cheeks that wasn’t washed away by her tears, he keeps his eyes on hers. Checking and double checking to see if there are any more tears to fall, so that if they do fall, he can wipe them away quickly. Kiss that spot and continue on. Repeat until she’s out of tears to cry.

When he’s done cleaning her face, he throws the towel in the sink to be washed later, grabbing the clothes that were dropped on the floor in the same motion.

she grips the hem of her dress, attempting to pull it over her head with the pain in what spread all over her body when she forces her arms up in that position. In way of assistance, Orpheus covers her hands for a moment before gently prying her fingers away. she allows him to slip the dress up off of her body and drop to the floor in a silken heep, she’s able to get the black bottoms off herself without help. she slips on the large shirt, peering up at him, with the sleeve slipping over her shoulder. Sadness in her eyes and cheeks pink with leftover tear residue. she’s still infinitely beautiful, always has been and always will be. there won’t be a moment in both of their lives where Orpheus ever thinks she isn’t beautiful. even in death, she is goddess-like. even now, she is the prettiest girl he’s ever seen.

she takes a step forward, wrapping her arms around his neck, her nose buried deep in his shoulder.

“I love you.”

It means even more now than ever, somehow, even though he’s heard the phrase countless times fall off of her tongue.

trying not to get choked up, he lifts her up, securing an arm around her waist before quickly blowing the candles in the bathroom out. Eurydice wraps her legs around his torso and doesn’t loosen her grip until they are both lying in their bed, the covers pulled up past their chins.

she’s asleep faster than him, for the first time in a long time.

he takes the time to watch her like this, calm and vulnerable. Her chest rising and falling, up and down, in and out. every so often, her eyelashes twitch or her lips tip up and he knows she’s dreaming. about him, maybe. Or maybe about a time when she was happier, maybe sunflowers or carnations or summer breeze. Maybe ice skating in the winter, or waiting for the train by the station in the springtime. But all he knows is that she is dreaming a good thing, and that’s all he needs to know.


	3. The Bar Fight- Persephone Edition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Persephone comes back in the spring to find Eurydice still bruised from her run in with the bar fight, she's obviously upset at somebody hurting the girl she's come to love and attempts to interrogate Eurydice and Hermes to tell her who hurt her.

The train arrived on time, for once, with the lady in green flouncing off of it with a spring in her step unlike any of a mortal being. For she wasn’t a mortal being, as any person with eyes could see, she was a goddess ascending from below to bless their lands. She blows a kiss to her brother, the man she can see in a silver suit not too far away, shining the sun. Sunlight sprinkles from her fingertips. The green of her dress leaves a trail of clovers and newly green grass behind her. As she walks, she spots the young couple, always together, those two. Joined at the hip, almost. Arm in arm, stuck in a neverending embrace, as if they let go for one second, they’ll be separated for good. Persephone can’t blame them.

She waves and smiles brighter, Orpheus catches her eye first, his own grin broadening to something even brighter, if that’s at all possible. Persephone parts to crowd to greet the two of them, throwing an arm around the boy first, giving his forearm a squeeze before turning to the girl. And then she forgets whatever good things had been going through her mind, and all that is left is anger and frustration and a lot of worry.

“What in hell happened to your face?” she reaches for Eurydice’s chin to examine the bruise that flowers along her jawline and cheekbone, faded slightly to show she’d gotten it a little ways back, but dark enough to let Persephone know that it had been a hard hit, or a hard fall, that had left such a dark purple and blue mark along her olive skin. The scratch there had healed over but Persephone could make out the scab where it used to be.

“who did this to you?!” she holds Eurydice’s chin for a moment before the girl jerked away.

“They- I- it was no one, I didn’t- I didn’t start it.” Eurydice stammers, her face dropping from the smile it had worn moments ago. She crosses her arms over her ribs protectively.

“Oh, I’m not interrogating you to ground or somethin’, hon.” she assures her. “I want to know who it was so I can kick their ass.”

Something like relief washes over Eurydice’s features, the tension Persephone hadn’t noticed until that moment nearly completely dissipates as she lets a laugh fall from her lips. Orpheus leans over to bump her shoulder with his, probably as some sort of gesture of “I told you so”.

“there was just a fight at that went a little too far.” Eurydice explains concisely. “I fell, hit my head on the way down and your brother over there kept me in bed for two weeks straight. And I can’t have much fun over this summer cause otherwise I’ll ‘damage my head’.”

“you should listen to Hermes, girl, he’s a smart man.” Eurydice nods, taking the comment as completely serious, which was true. “speaking of which, I’ve gotta go to talk to him.”

she wanders over to the man in the silver suit, leaving greenness and spring in her wake while somehow having this solemn, angry look on her face that did not match the birds singing about in the trees around her and the joy of the town now celebrating the arrival of spring.

“good morning, sister.”

“is he still around?”

“who?”

“the deadbeat who gave Eurydice those bruises, is he still hanging around?”

“you’re assuming it’s a he, Seph.” he said with a click of his tongue.

“I’ve met the men in this town, Hermes. And Eurydice could take anybody but a man at least three times her size, I know that much.” she rambles. “you didn’t answer my question, is he still around these parts?”

“if I say yes, will you hunt him down and give him twice as many bruises as Eurydice?”

“Hermes.”

“Fine, fine,” he waves his hand nonchalantly, in that way that only Hermes could. “He’s stopped by once after the whole fight went down: he didn’t even get through the front door. Our favorite young couple is so beloved in this town that not even the bar patrons would let him in. Luckily, Eurydice was at home at the time and Orpheus was manning the bar so neither of them had to relive that ordeal.”

“good… so you think he won’t come back?” she says, her anger was beginning to wane but still that buzz of impulsivity that took away more of her control than wine. Anger could drive her towards most anything, especially when that anger was directed towards protecting her family. And Eurydice was her family at this point. Persephone would do anything to protect her.

“not much for him to find here if he can’t have booze. we didn’t even know him too well, not even sure of his name and I know names pretty well, so there’s that to be said for how well known he was in the community.”

“if he comes back once this entire summer, you’ve got to point him out cause when he goes back to wherever he came from after dealing with me he’s gonna be missing a-”

“I’ll make sure he doesn’t come anywhere near our resident bar bouncer.”

Persephone runs a hand through her hair, letting out a frustrated huff. “how could you let someone hurt her like that, Hermes? look at her, she’s so tiny! pitting her against gargantuan, drunk maniacs isn’t the best idea!”

“you know as well I do that she can hold her own against 99% percent of us. It was just that 1% that got ahold of her that night and we all paid the price for letting her go up against him alone. Next time we’ve got reinforcements.”

“yeah?”

“Orpheus is never letting her break up a fight on her own again, that’s for sure.” he laughs. “you know him, always so worried about her even though she’s the strongest person he’s ever known.”

“I know,” Persephone smiles, peering over the crowd to look for the couple amongst the growing group of people. “They seem even closer this summer compared to the last time I saw them, more in sync with each other.”

Hermes smiles, one of the few genuine ones he actually lets out these days. “don’t tell them that I told you this but… they got secretly engaged during the winter. they only told me, since they don’t have the means for rings and a ceremony and everything, but they don’t need much. They’ll tell you on their own time but I wanted to see your face.”

And her face is priceless, jaw dropping to the ground, her eyes brightening to something even shinier than the sun. “gods, I always miss so much when I’m down there.”

Hermes nods. “your husband doing well?”

“much better than before.” Persephone nods. “thanks to your godson, of course.”

“all of this is thanks to Orpheus.” Hermes says, gesturing to sunshine and warm temperatures around them. Springtime.

“it sure is. He’s a special one.”

“he sure is.”


End file.
